I haven't been on this site in forever, and although I didn't get to attend USH this year (first time I haven't gone in at least 4-5 years!), I did get to go to Halloween Horror Nights Singapore. For anyone curious about HHN 'round the world, they're very different events. While Hollywood is overall a scarier event with more to see and do, Singapore's theming, attention to detail and decor kills USH. I couldn't believe how detailed the sets and costumes/make-up were! And the event was at the pinnacle of creativity. It was a great experience, and it was fun to see how it compared to Hollywood. For anyone interested, I posted a review of USS in its forum page under reviews. Hope I'll be able to be back at Hollywood next year! Enjoyed everyone's reviews of the Hollywood event this year; living vicariously through y'all! I am disappointed to hear that the event (to some) wasn't that great this year...

Hey all! I haven't been on the site for a long time now, but I used to be an avid HNN attendee at Universal Studios Hollywood, and just last night I had the opportunity to experience Halloween Horror Nights Singapore, and wanted to give a rundown of my experience! tl;dr: The event is extremely detailed, expertly done, and amazingly themed. An amazing experience! I especially appreciate how every maze was original, and its storyline was rooted in Singaporean history. The houses were very unique, and each one had a deep story that came from Singaporean folklore and history which was awesome to see. The creativity of the event was evident and every maze and most of the scare zones felt thought-out, full fledged and fresh--something Hollywood sometimes lacks. Review of Event: My group arrived at 7:20, just in time for the opening scaremony. There was a huge moon at the front of the park, and a stage in the middle. When the scaremony actually started, a guy came out holding a book and started yelling something but the crowd was so loud that I heard none of what he was saying. It got pretty insane: monsters scaling from the top of the buildings, fire, smoke, fireworks, people being "sacrificed" by being thrown off the tops of the buildings, until the culmination where the music got super loud and the blood moon rose. Then it began: overall a good first impression. We made our way to the first house, BLK 50, and waited 15 minutes. Maze: Siloso Gateway BLK 50 In case one is unfamiliar, a BLK is a public housing community, which are common around Singapore. Basically, the theme was a deadly virus that had emerged, and you were a survivor trying to escape BLK 50 before being infected (there is a lot of bad history surrounding BLK 50, and I guess "crazy" and "sick" people is one part of it). I think this is everything the Walking Dead was trying to be, but so so SO much better. I mean, wow, this maze had so much energy it actually felt like real life. The people weren't zombies, but rather savage, crazy, and sick tenants of this place, and they were terrifying. On top of that, you had police/SWAT team members yelling at you to move and it was overall extremely chaotic. Each room was decorated perfectly--trashed, bloody, and decaying--and the costumes/makeup was really on point (far superior to the "zombies" at USH in my opinion). There were some really memorable moments in the house. One was a hallway, where a SWAT member was telling our group to hold, then suddenly started to scream "go, go, go!". As we ran through the tight hallway, the infected started to come out of everywhere and it was super intense. Another was a room, completely covered in barbed wire that you had to duck under while infected were crawling across the floor at you. Finally, there was an infected who leaped at you from all fours (in the air!) and a police officer shoots him right before he reaches you, which then the infected flies back and slams into the wall. One of the best scares of the evening. Overall, an incredibly scary and exhilarating house with some super unique elements and expert design/atmosphere. Scare Factor: 10/10 (Will scare even the strongest of hearts) Story: 8/10 (The story and history is there, but not comparable to the other house's) Decor: 9/10 (Really impeccable design. Not as much design needed as other houses required though) Atmosphere: 10/10 (Nailed it) Overall: 10/10 (Was debating between a 9 and a 10, but the energy level of this house was superior to others and therefore deserves a 10) Scare Zone: conTERMINATED So I legit thought this was a maze until writing this review right now, which gives me a whole different perspective on it. After experiencing this scare zone plus the other scare zones at the event, USH really needs to up there game. I mean: this scare zone had the level of intricacy and scares comparable to some mazes at USH. The story of this scare zone is that a secret colony, called Sector #5, had been set up for the sick and deformed, and the blood moon (yes, the theme of the event as a whole is seen in almost all the mazes and scare zones) has made them ready to fight back against you as the "oppressors". There are some very well placed scares, but the energy level was a little low (especially after going through BLK 50). The set is pretty cool though, but not that varied; it feels like you're in the same place the whole time. But, for a scare zone, it really brings it (like I said, I thought it was a maze)! Scare Factor: 8/10 (Good scares, but a little low on energy) Story: 7/10 (Simple story, but at least it has one that's easy to recognize!) Decor: 8/10 (Very good decor. Could be more varied though) Atmosphere: 8/10 (Didn't feel like "a scare zone", but rather a maze) Overall: 8/10 (For a scare zone, wow. However, there is a better one out there later...) Maze: Tunnel People The wait for this was about an hour. Definitely a lengthy wait, but worth it on so many levels. According to Singaporean prophecy, an apocalyptic clan called the Tunnel People thrives underground and they look forward to the next Blood Moon to rise. They are very disapproving of trespassers though, so there is a big Singaporean superstition of going "beneath the surface." Lucky for us, that is exactly what we did. The facade is a giant sewer-type entrance, and our group of 4 got to go in alone. You enter, and there is literally no light except the creepiest looking guy in a robe with a red lantern. He tells us to follow him, and we do for a short while until his lantern goes out and it is completely black. Besides being one of the coolest starts to a maze ever period, it was terrifying. This is definitely one of the scariest mazes I have ever been to just on the merit of being so damn dark. You could barely see anything for the first half of the maze, and the set design (feeling the walls) immersed you in the feeling of being in a tunnel underground. When we finally reached some light--relative to the first part, but it was still very dark)--you could tell how intricate the design of the maze was. They really put you in the feeling of being trapped underground, and the scares were pretty relentless in the second half of the maze. They had walls that would spin with actors inside of them, glass floors with actors inside of them, and scares from every angle. The final room, when you finally reached "the cult," was one of the scariest moments I've ever had in a maze. This maze was truly one of the best mazes I have ever been through, from story to design to scares. USS really knocked it out of the park with this one! Scare Factor: 10/10 (The beginning and end were incredible) Story: 9/10 (Really cool story, but I think Blood Moon could have bene emphasized a little more) Decor: 9/10 (Decor was spot on, but you couldn't appreciate it in the first half because it was so dark (but this was for the best)) Atmosphere: 10/10 (Unbelievable) Overall: 10/10 (Probably the best maze of the night. The intensity was incredible.) Scare Zone: Hungry Ghosts After recovering with a ride on Transformers, we made our way to Hungry Ghosts. We wanted to go through the maze Hell House at this time, but the queue was over 2 hours, so we decided to wait. Before I begin, I would like to say that is, hands down bar none, the best scare zone I have ever been through. It puts every USH scare zone to shame. The story is really cool, and pretty unique: basically the blood moon has "wrecked havoc" on the lunar calendar, and this forsaken village is stuck eternally in the Seventh month where villagers perpetually perform the rituals of the Hungry Ghost Festival. The scare zone was huge and sprawling, and the decorations were still detailed and super authentic. It maintained a haunted village effect extremely well, but the best part were the actors! They were super into there parts, and gave my groups some really good scares! I could go on and on about this scare zone, but I can't do it justice in words. Scare Factor: 10/10 (Best actors of the night) Story: 10/10 (Best story of the night) Decor: 10/10 (Really detailed, especially considering how big it was) Atmosphere: 10/10 (Painstakingly authentic) Overall: 10/10 (I really have to applaud the team at USS for this effort) Maze: True Singapore Ghost Stories: The MRT This was the longest wait of the evening. I thought it was never going to end (please buy express passes if you can, my friends didn't want to and we all regretted it in the end). When the maze finally came, you could hear the screams of people clear out in the line, which got me pretty excited. In case people aren't familiar, the MRT is the mass rapid transport (basically the train/subway system of Singapore). The "last train" is always dreaded (as you run and try to catch it to not be abandoned), but because of the blood moon this is literally the last train ever as evil awakens. The story was definitely the strongest in this maze. It tells the progression of the MRT station, how it messed with "ancient grounds" and evil spirits, which are now taking their revenge with the blood moon. The set design was some of the best of the night in my opinion. How they recreated whole train cars and dig sites (with a full excavator!) is beyond me, but it was also accompanied by great scares (and tension of having to walk through tight areas with scare actors all around you). Overall very excellently done with an amazing set design. Scare Factor: 9/10 (The train scenes were extremely well done. Could have done with a few more scares though) Story: 10/10 (Strong story and strong story development in the maze itself) Decor: 10/10 (Excellently done, especially the trains themselves) Atmosphere: 9/10 (Really cool seeing the juxtapositions between scenes, and exploring the history) Overall: 10/10 (The strongest story development I have ever seen in a HHN maze) Maze: Hell House Queue for Hell House was still 2 hours at this point, but after riding on Battlestar Galactica and Revenge of the Mummy, it was finally down to 20 minutes (I think it was like 1 or 130 AM at this point). The theming was this maze's strongest point. For the Hungry Ghost Festival (as mentioned in the scare zone), people seek Paper Effigies, and basically this is house of the maker of the effigies, and its in Hell. That's a terrible explanation of the story, but it is a really strong theme. The maze was also unique because it was extremely colorful, and felt very authentic. The paper people's costumes were also incredible, and one gave me a really good scare out front (because I wasn't expecting the paper figures to move!). They played with a lot of different elements in here--heat and color notably--and design wise the house was amazing, but I didn't get a lot of scares in the maze. However, the end scene was really cool (and involved you having your own paper effigy), and I really appreciate the overall theming of the maze. Scare Factor: 8/10 (Scary parts, but overall the least amount of scares of the night) Story: 10/10 (Best maze story of the night, and best theming by far) Decor: 10/10 (Really liked the colorful decor, especially compared to the other houses) Atmosphere: 10/10 (The atmosphere was authentic beyond expression) Overall: 9/10 (Even though it gained 10 in all the "looks" departments, it definitely could have used better energy throughout so I can't give it a perfect score) And finally when we were walking to the exit, we passed through the final scare zone Scare Zone: The Invaders This scare zone stood out, but only because it didn't fit cohesively with the other mazes. I'm not going to say a lot about it, because it wasn't super impressive, but the costumes were really awesome. Not a lot of scares though, and pales in comparison to the other scare zones. I think part of this, however, is because they use this scare zone as a photo opportunity, which guests seem to like. Scare Factor: N/A (they weren't scaring people so I can't rate this. It was more for looks and pictures) Story: 6/10 (Alien invaders: that's about all) Decor: 9/10 (Costumes were damn impressive. Best part of this maze) Atmosphere: 7/10 (Not a lot of it, but definitely enough to make it feel somewhat like an alien invasion) Overall: 7/10 (I can see its purpose for people who want to take photos. Also, apparently there is a giant battle that happens at some points, but I missed that so I can't judge based on it. Apparently it's pretty spectacular when it happens though.) Overall Wow! I'm super impressed with Universal Studios Singapore. Their theming and attention to detail surpasses that of Universal Studios Hollywood, especially Hungry Ghosts and most of the mazes. I'd like to see some more energy, and theming throughout the park like USH, but the cohesiveness, theming and creativity of the event as a whole was extremely impressive and I'm looking forward to going back next year (with express passes)! Grade: A

Haven't been on the site for a while so I thought I would weigh in on this post. In my opinion, creepiness is fear in the sense of being uncomfortable mentally, while being disturbed is fear in the sense of feeling physically unsafe in the environment. With that being said, here are my top 3 for each category!
Creepiest:
3) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Saw is the Law (I put this iteration in the maze as one of the creepiest because it had a much different feeling--to me at least-- than its superior sister maze, Back in Business (more on that below). There was something about standing outside the house that was extremely unsettling. Everything seemed "normal" from the outside, yet you knew what was coming up when you stepped inside the maze. The first room was a simple foyer, and having no scare in the first room further built upon the mood of uneasiness. I didn't really dread this maze, but instead felt a heightened amount of unease from the apparent "normality" and familiarity of the situation. While I wholly dreaded Back in Business, in this maze I just felt uncomfortable, almost as if I didn't belong in the house.)
2) A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again (This maze was easily one of the creepiest for me because of the dreamlike state it was set in. The whole nature of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street" is a loss of sanity, and this maze captured that perfectly. Freddy chasing you throughout the dreamlike maze got under my skin and made me feel wholly uncomfortable the whole maze. To me, it wasn't the scares that made this maze creepy but rather the environment it was put in.)
1) Insidious: Into the Further (It was that damn "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" that got me every time. I never "dreaded" this maze--I never felt as though I was going to die for lack of a better term. But something about wandering through the house with the sounds of Tiny Tim made me extremely uncomfortable. The house and the nature of the maze itself had this placebo effect on me, where I would constantly think I was seeing and hearing scares even if they weren't there. The maze itself, as DTH316 put it, had this dusty and "stuck in time" feeling to it that escalated that feeling of creepiness. Something just felt weirdly off the whole maze which solidified its position as the creepiest maze.)
Disturbing:
3) Friday the 13th: Kill, Jason, Kill! (Okay, I know this wasn't a particularly good maze. The maze itself was uninspired. But I will never forget walking into the maze and seeing the man trying to free himself desperately from one of Jason's traps, screaming at us in pain and agony while we passed by. Something about that as a setup for the rest of the maze added the disturbing nature to the whole maze. The somewhat repetitive, wooded setting of the maze actually benefited this feeling of dread, as I never knew where to expect Jason next. Overall a mediocre maze with a surprisingly disturbing feeling.)
2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Back in Business (DTH again put it perfectly: this maze offered the closest feeling to death of any maze I've ever been in. I literally felt unsafe the entire maze, even having a passing thought that maybe this maze wasn't all fiction. Seeing all the victims was quite a disturbing experience, especially at this time because it seemed way more violent than any other maze. I definitely dreaded walking into the next room each time, and to me this maze exemplifies a "disturbing" maze.)
1) El Cucuy: The Boogeyman (I think I have some biased towards this one because the situation I was put in, but overall this was the most disturbing maze for me. My (small) group and I were sent into this maze totally alone-- no one behind and no one in front. This was the first time I ever experienced this (perfect timing in my opinion). The operator actually told me, quote, "there's no one in the maze right now". That feeling that all the scareactors were waiting just for us was extremely dreadful. Add that to the already disturbing concept of the maze--hunting children-- and this was easily the most disturbing maze experience for me.)

I don't think it's Cooper as well because it doesn't seem feasible. If Murdy was flying out to Cooper, he would have to go to Sweden. Minimum time it would take to get to Östersund, Sweden from LAX would be 11 hours (that would be direct flight, minimum head wind). If he left 4 hours ago (according to his tweets), took 11 hours to get there, and added +9 hours for the time zone change, Murdy would be there at 1:00 AM tomorrow at the earliest, and in his tweet, he says that he wants to shoot TODAY. Also, you can't get to Östersund in 2 flights (like he says); it takes at least 3. So based on that, I don't think this one's Cooper...

Friday The 13th - Part VI: Jason Lives or Original
Halloween - Original 1978
A Nightmare On Elm Street - Wes Craven's New Nightmare (Does that count?)
Saw - II
Scream - Original
Evil Dead - II
Alien - Original 1979
Predator - Original
Hellraiser - Original
Child's Play - II
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Original
Final Destination - 5
Paranormal Activity - Original
Romero's Living Dead - Dawn of the Dead
Jaws - Original
The Ring - Japanese Original
Ju-On: The Grudge - Japanese Original
Hills Have Eyes - Remake
From Dusk Till Dawn - Original (I didn't know there were multiple...)
28 ___ Later - Days
Hostel - Original
Rec- Spanish Original (Still one of the best horror movies of recent times... and if someone says Quarantine is better... )
The Exorcist- Original
The Omen- Original 1976

Okay, so we all pretty much know that Insidious is coming to HNN. In case no one has done it yet, I decided to break it down based on the clues for "Rock Icon"
The original clues are:
"Rock Icon"
-A rock icon is a hint to this maze (Literally)
-This Rock Icon was active (recording) when Murdy was in elementary school.
-Some of the costumes in the maze are from that era, and some from the 80's, and others from late 1800's to 1940's
-There is one song that was originally recorded in 1881. And another song from the 1920's.
-Research involving 10,000 images has been done.
-There is one scene that has a "florally and pleasant" smell in it.
-There will be a character in front of the house handing out prizes (ala Hostel and Silent Hill)
I believe the rock icon is Ozzy Osbourne. I don't exactly know when Murdy was in elementary school, but I'm going to say that he was while Ozzy was recording (probably in Black Sabbath). My thought is that the connection is through a song, Over the Mountain. In the song, he sings I've seen life's magic astral plane I travel through, and nevertheless the entire song is about this Astral Plane. In case some of you don't know what the Astral Plane is, it is commonly referred to as The Further. The Further is the "dream" land Dalton is stuck within in Insidious. The Further is basically the whole point of Insidious.
The costume thing seems obvious based on the numerous amount of creatures in the film. We have people in regular clothes (this era), the doll twins (1940's presumably), the dancing boy (1920's), the witch/old lady (1800's), and the list goes on and on. If the second film is being included, 1980's costuming would come from Lorainne's past job as a nurse (watch trailer), which, from an interview, is from the 80's. That is just speculation however if the second film is included in this maze.
The song in 1881, I believe, is Liszt's "Nauges Gris", translated to "Gray Clouds". Gray clouds are seen in a lot (including the poster for Insidious) and the in The Further. Also, the haunting tone of the song fits perfectly with the atmosphere of Insidious. The second song, from the 1920's is a little more obvious, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", originally recorded in 1929, and famously redone by Tiny Tim in 1968, is the song playing on the record player during the scene where the mom goes outside, sees kid dancing, goes after him, etc.
I think it would be really cool for the souvenir outside the house to be the paranormal investigator woman with her polaroid camera, and if given the secret passcode, would snap a photo of you and the photo would be the souvenir. Or perhaps it will just be the investigator's business card. Who knows.
Well, that's my speculation. Most of this was probably known already, or wrong, but these were the best connections I could make between rock icon and Insidious.

With low hope, I still want American Horror Story to happen so badly. I can't even imagine all the things Murdy could do with an IP such as AHS. I want it to happen this year. Please. And I agree with you on AWIL. My core belief is that comedy should stay out of haunted houses/mazes.

I don't doubt you on this because I think this is right, but you said that Paris is the name of the city (that is also a name of a city in the US) but Paris isn't in England, as his clue is "Here's a hint...a city in England that is also a city in the US, the name appears in the maze...". That's the only thing I see wrong with your speculation. Anyways, nice job, this is impressive clue solving.

The hint for Evil Dead was the connection between 3 people- 1) x-boy band member, 2) NBC TV Star in the 90's, 3) Make up artist- was "ED". 1.) JT was discovered by ED McMahon on Star Search, 2) Matt LeBlanc from Friends starred in the "classic" Uni monkey baseball movie ED.... and 3) Jack Pierce who designed the classic Universal Monsters ended his career working on the talking horse TV show "Mr. ED".... The picture hints tweeted a while back had Universal Monster magnets (Jack Pierce) and a statue of a monkey smoking a pipe (ED movie)... The ghost in the attic left hints on the DRY ERASE BOARD OF DAMNATION, including the word "initials." The Initials for Evil Dead are ED.

In case you guys haven't seen this...
Horror Nights ‏@HorrorNights1h
Evil Dead is being built right now, its the venue behind Mummy at USH (that previously housed Silent Hill, Hostel, Saw, TCM etc). And for those who pay attention, the code name for "Evil Dead" was "Name Game" Didn't "open the window" because someone ruined it. Booo! The hint for Evil Dead was the connection between 3 people- 1) x-boy band member, 2) NBC TV Star in the 90's, 3) Make up artist- was "ED". 1.) JT was discovered by ED McMahon on Star Search, 2) Matt LeBlanc from Friends starred in the "classic" Uni monkey baseball movie ED.... and 3) Jack Pierce who designed the classic Universal Monsters ended his career working on the talking horse TV show "Mr. ED".... The picture hints tweeted a while back had Universal Monster magnets (Jack Pierce) and a statue of a monkey smoking a pipe (ED movie)... The ghost in the attic left hints on the DRY ERASE BOARD OF DAMNATION, including the word "initials." The Initials for Evil Dead are ED. The hints of course were designed to drive you INSANE, which I hope it did. Now the cat is officially out of the bag...on to the next maze.. And last, thanks to Fede, Bruce and Sam for allowing us to create "Evil Dead: Book of the Dead" Who knows where this will lead in the future.

I don't know if someone has mentioned this but the list of words (written in Croatian) speculation has been wrong (for me at least) because Murdy just tweeted that the list has a hint to all the mazes, not just one. He claims all the mazes were covered in that list, with one red herring.